Magic Under The Sea
by twilight-moon09
Summary: Under the sea, Bella and her sisters discover more magic than they could ever imagine, and more adventure than they could ever hope for. The twilight cast under the sea, better summary inside . A/J,B/Ed, R/Em, C/Es, AU
1. Chapter 1

**~MAGIC UNDER THE SEA~**

Summary: Bella, Rosalie, Alice, and Carlie (an OC) are all the daughters of the Sea King, King Triton and live in the city of Atlantis, the land of the Merpeople. Bella loves to go on adventures and exploring, and Carlie—the youngest—loves to go with her. Jasper and Emmett are supposed to be the guardians of the girls. One night, when their father tells them the tale about a great race that no longer exists, Bella decides she wants to go looking for it and she convinces her sisters to go along with her. What they discover is past of magic, secrets, and a young boy named Jacob who can't really remember anything—only Jacob isn't the only thing from the past that's back.

[Bella, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett, Charlie, Carlisle, Edward, Esme, and later some of the wolf pack characters and Renesmee.]

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, EXCEPT MAYBE PIECES OF THE PLOT, CARLIE, AND…THAT'S IT FOR NOW.**

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Chapter One: Origins, Bedtime Stories, and Protectors

"Rosalie, if you spend anymore time in the bath I won't have time to do your hair! I'm almost done with Carlie's!" Alice yelled as she tugged at Carlie's scalp one last time, and Carlie let out a yelp.

I, on the other hand, danced in front of the mirror, posing different ways and angles to get better glimpses of my hair. Alice had just finished it and it was beautiful, but no matter what she did I never felt that pretty.  
Well, at least as pretty as my sisters. Rosalie was considerably the most beautiful mermaid in all the seven seas; she took after our mother the most. She had long, blonde curls that fell past her shoulders to her waist and eyes as blue as the water around us. She had mother's eyes, too. She was the tallest out of the four of us, and had a gorgeous ruby red tailfin. She was said red was her color. She was also the oldest, her 19th birthday just passed.

Next in line was me, the one who at first glance almost looked as if she didn't belong. Well, that is, in my eyes. I'm 18 and also the next tallest in line, reaching only a couple inches shorter than Rose. My tailfin was more of a bronze color, and though I feel it's a bit unimpressive everyone else disagrees. No one else has this color. My hair, which Alice just made wavy, is as long as Rosalie's except it's chocolate brown, the same color as my eyes.

Then there's 17 year old Alice, who I think has enough energy and enthusiasm for the four of us combined. Alice is very short, with a face that could only be compared to a water pixie. She has short spiky black hair, a chirpy voice, an excitable attitude, lavender eyes, and a beautiful lavender tailfin to match. Like Rose, she is very pretty, and loves to do all the shopping for all of us.

Lastly there was Carlie, she was 16 and the youngest out of the four of us. Since she was youngest she doesn't really remember mom, so when we were younger she used to ask us a lot of questions about her. She's the smallest, smaller than Alice (which says something), and she has straight red hair that's as long as me and Rosalie's. She has chocolate eyes like me, and a laugh that sounds like bells chiming—much like Alice's. She has pouty red lips like Rosalie, and can get anything she wants with her dimples. Her tailfin is emerald green, and shimmers in the light like the rest of ours. While I am close with all of my sisters, Carlie and I spend the time the most. It was my bed she would come and sleep in when she was missing the mother she barely knew. She's always with me when I go exploring, and she's always with me no matter what. Though she tries to act mature and has the intelligence of someone twice her age, she is still a baby to us.

"Bella, stop shaking your hair! If you mess it up I promise I'll feed you to the sharks myself!" Alice knocked me out of my reverie, and we all laughed. For her to be so tiny, Alice threatened like a 6'5 merman and cussed like a sailor at times.

Rosalie finally swam out of the bath, and dressed in her dress shells that Alice laid out on her bed especially for tonight. They were her normal ruby red shells, but with small rubies encrusted in them, only for special occasions like tonight. They would match her ruby red lipstick when she did her flawless makeup.

Mine were similar, my regular ocean blue shells, only with small white diamonds encrusted in them. Alice and Carlie's were the same, only Alice's were lavender with purple rubies and Carlie's were seaweed green with emeralds.

"There! All done!" Alice smiled brightly on the final curl in Carlie's head, and Carlie looked beautiful. Alice always does a nice job. "Now what accessories…" Alice mumbled to herself, and as if on cue six green fish swam to her holding headbands, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

"Hmm…" She said, tapping her sharp chin. She grabbed a beautiful gold encrusted hair clip shaped like a starfish, and clipped it to the side of Carlie's red curly hair.

"Perfect! Thanks." The fish floated away, and Carlie jumped up to hug Alice. The sat in the seat in front of the next mirror as Rosalie sat down and Alice started on her hair.

I started to bite my lip, and Alice read my facial expression.

"Great idea Bells! Quick, check to see if the coast is clear!" She said, bouncing up and down in excitement.

I swam to the entry to our room and there was no one in sight. Sometimes, it comes in pretty helpful that we have our own wing of the palace. Technically, we each have our own wing but that would be too lonely. Besides, we have more fun together.

"The coast is clear Ali!" I said as I swam over to my bed. Carlie already beat me there, and she watched with excitement as I pulled the box from the hiding space under my bed. I believe this was her favorite discovery of ours that we've ever found while exploring. I remember what we had to go through to fix it and make it work. Rosalie had to swim up to the surface—that's right, you heard me the surface…wonder how red Dad would turn if he found out about that—in order to trap some dry air in her sea-glass bubble. She'd already fixed the little box—which a good friend of ours told us was properly named a snarfsinger—and Rosalie said it would work if it was wet. So she trapped it in the bubble with the dry air, leaving the dial outside of the bubble so we could turn it. Rosalie was so smart and so good with her hands, she could fix anything. She was a natural at tinkering.

I turned the dial three times and the box started singing as the small mermaid began to slowly spin around.

"_I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue  
And it's hey to the starboard, heave ho  
Look out, lad, a mermaid be waiting for you  
In mysterious fathoms below!"_

I swam over to Rosalie and Alice as Carlie and I danced around and we all sang our hearts out.

"_From whence wayward Westerlies blow  
Where Triton is king and his merpeople sing  
In mysterious fathoms below!"_

When the song ended we all sank to the floor giggling together madly till there a knock at our door. We all froze and our hearts stopped.

"Quick! Hide it Carlie!" Rosalie whispered as Carlie swam as fast as her little fin could take her to put the box back in its hiding place.

Rosalie sat back in her seat and Alice started combing her hair, and I went back to fidgeting in mirror while Carlie sat on my bed making it look like we were up to absolutely nothing suspicious.

"Come in!" Alice chirped.

In swam Jasper with his hand over his eyes. Jasper was tall, taller than Rosalie and I, and very muscular yet lean. He had blonde hair that always fell into his eyes, and piercing blue eyes as crystal-like as ice with a crystal blue tailfin to match. But Jasper was really a kind person with such a warm heart. Though he was only 21, he was the head of the Royal Guard and one of the two charged with protection of the Princesses. He was the guardian of Rosalie and Alice. He was the youngest to ever have a position like that, but father always said Jasper had the charisma, intelligence, and cunning of ten men. While most girls swooned over him whenever we went out, he only had eyes for Alice.

He always said watching over all of us was a handful we knew that deep down in his heart there was no place he'd rather be. Jasper was a big brother to us, and we loved him.

He also knew all the rules when living with girls, which is why he swam in with his hand covering his eyes.

"Girls your father told us to have the Princesses ready by sunset." He said without peeking.

"The _Princesses._ When do get to be his daughters again?" I asked, annoyed.

"Not to worry Bella. Tonight will be fun!" Rosalie said with a smile.

"Yeah! It's going to be _great_!" Carlie said, swimming in a circle in excitement.

"Hold your seahorses Jazz, we'll be ready in time." Alice said with the voice that always got her what she wanted with Jasper, and he sighed heavily.

"Seriously girls, don't make me send Emmett in here." And he swam back to the door, hitting the wall before going out and we all laughed.

"Oh, what is that big whale going to do?" Rosalie called after him and I pushed her shoulder. "Oh come on Rosalie, you know Emmett could get you to do anything he wants you to." She sighed and looked back into the mirror with a lovesick expression. "And then some," She said sweetly.

I looked away. You see, Alice and Rosalie had boyfriends. No, they weren't princes, and yes, my father would melt an icecap if he ever found out, but at least they _had_ someone. At least they were in love. At least they were…_happy_. I would love to have someone look at me the way Emmett looks at Rosalie and Jasper looks at Alice. To gaze into my eyes and make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world for them…to make me feel like they wouldn't be able to live if they didn't have me—because I would surely feel that way about them. I've never been in love before.

"Okay Rose you're done, now hurry up with the make up so we can go!" Alice said quickly before dodging the comb Rosalie sent soaring her way as we laughed.

Rosalie applied her own makeup in two minutes flat, before floating to all of us to do ours. She said I looked good with smoky eyes, whatever that meant, and she finished with me in under a minute. I swam to a mirror and looked myself over as she moved onto Alice. Wow, I did look amazing.

She gave Alice glittery purple eye shadow, because Alice wouldn't have it any other way. She looked to sparkle. She only gave Carlie some red lip gloss, because she was only sixteen. Besides, Carlie was beautiful enough to where she didn't need any makeup. She finished a few seconds later, and we were all dressed.

"You know, Rose is right Carlie." I said floating over to her smiling, figuring this was a good time.

"You only turn 16 once. So today is special." Alice said, joining us with a knowing smirk.

"What's going on guys?" Carlie asked suspiciously.  
Rosalie floated over with something in her hands.

"We wanted to give this to you for your birthday, when we felt you were old enough to take care of it." She said sweetly.

Carlie's eyes lit up when she saw the large ruby amulet the size of a goldfish.

"Mom's necklace?" She asked breathlessly.

"We wanted you to have it." Alice said with a glowing smile.

"It's _beautiful_!" She said as Rosalie placed it on her neck.

"It suits you." Rose said gently.

At that moment we all shared a hug, and no words were needed.

Then Emmett swam in with his eyes closed hitting Alice's bed.

"Okay girls, Jasper says ready or not, it's time to go. The dolphins have already swam up outside." He said, trying to sound authoritative.

You see, Emmett was huge, even more muscles than my dad—which says something—and taller than even Jasper. He was Jasper's second in command, and charged with the protection of Carlie and me. Though his size was intimidating to everyone (including potential boyfriends), he was the sweetest guy ever. He had curly brown hair, deep dimples, soft green eyes, and a big bright smile. His tailfin was a darker shade of blue than Jasper's. They were best friends.

We all blew our tongues at him for ruining our moment. "Alright we're ready! You happy now?" Rosalie said angrily as she swam past him and he looked at her.

"What did I do?" He asked confused, as we swam past him and he followed close behind.

When we finally left the palace there were two chariots waiting, Jasper already holding the dolphin reigns in the first one. There were 3 dolphins to each chariot, and they squealed with excitement when we came out.

"Come on girls, the sun is nearly done setting!" Jasper said with a big smile, and we swam over. Alice and Rosalie climbed into his, while Carlie and I climbed into the second one as Emmett took the reigns. And we were off.

* * *

"You know for this celebration to be for my birthday, I'm not having a lot of fun." Carlie said in a bored tone. We were all seated at a long table, while people we didn't even know gave these long speeches putting us to sleep.

"We do we get to eat?" Emmett whispered from next to Rosalie and she elbowed him in the gut. We all chuckled.

The fanfare started, and I knew my father was getting ready to speak.

"His Royal Highness, King Charlie Triton!" He was announced as he made his way forward with his trident in his hand, and everyone started cheering.

"I would like to thank you all for swimming in tonight to celebrate such a wonderful occasion. My youngest daughter, Carlie Renee's birthday." Everyone cheered wildly again and Carlie blushed.

"Some of you have swum from all corners of the seven seas to celebrate with us, and for that, I could not be more grateful. Please stay in Atlantis for as long as you'd like, and know that you are always welcome. Without further ado, let the feast begin." He smiled brightly as the server fish swam out everyone's plates.

"Finally!" Emmett exclaimed and Rosalie thwacked his head, making all of us laugh even harder.

The night carried on and we began to have a little fun, till the music started. The band began playing and Carlie lit up like an electric eel.

"Oh my—dad! You got Sebastian and The Deep Blue Singers?" She squealed, before swimming over her plate to the dance floor. We followed her as the song started.

"_The seaweed is always greener  
In somebody else's lake  
You dream about going up there  
But that is a big mistake  
Just look at the world around you  
Right here on the ocean floor  
Such wonderful things surround you  
What more is you lookin' for?"_

We all began to swim and dance in a circle as we sang along with the lyrics.

"_Under the sea  
Under the sea  
Darling it's better  
Down where it's wetter  
Take it from me  
Up on the shore they work all day  
Out in the sun they slave away  
While we devotin'  
Full time to floatin'  
Under the sea!"_

Rosalie and Alice whispered into mine and Carlie's ear and we both giggled. We swam over to Jasper and Emmett (who had food stuffed in his mouth) and grabbed their hands to try and get them to join us. Jasper just blushed and looked past us at Alice who he knew was behind this, and Emmett just shook his head to tell us no. We pulled harder and they finally got up, and started dancing with us. They wanted to dance with Alice and Rosalie, but they had to remember our father was here. That's why we had to be the ones to ask them in the first place.

"_The newt play the flute  
The carp play the harp  
The plaice play the bass  
And they soundin' sharp  
The bass play the brass  
The chub play the tub  
The fluke is the duke of soul  
(Yeah)  
The ray he can play  
The lings on the strings  
The trout rockin' out  
The blackfish she sings  
The smelt and the sprat  
They know where it's at  
An' oh that blowfish blow!"_

Carlie bit her bottom lip and I knew she was up to something. I watched as she swam over to our father and pulled him out with us, making everyone giggle and awe.

"Carlie what have you gotten me into?" He chuckled as she danced with him, and we all smiled. It had been so long since we'd heard our father laugh, it felt new. He never has time to have fun with us anymore. At least, not like when we were younger. We used to spend time together all the time, and then when mom died, he just stopped.

"_Under the sea  
Under the sea  
When the sardine  
Begin the beguine  
It's music to me  
What do they got? A lot of sand  
We got a hot crustacean band  
Each little clam here  
know how to jam here  
Under the sea  
Each little slug here  
Cuttin' a rug here  
Under the sea  
Each little snail here  
Know how to wail here  
That's why it's hotter  
Under the water  
Ya we in luck here  
Down in the muck here  
Under the sea!"_

And we danced the night away. It was one of the best nights we'd had in a long time.

* * *

Tonight must've been just full of surprises, because dad was here to tuck us in. He hasn't even been on our side of the castle for the longest, yet here he was tucking his daughters in. Tonight really was the best night ever.

He tucked Carlie in last and kissed her forehead. "Wait dad!" She said as he began to turn away. "Yes Carls?" He asked, and it had been so long since we'd heard him call her that.

"Could you tell me…a bedtime story?" She asked in a small voice, and we all giggled. We all wanted to ask, but me, Rosalie, and Alice were too embarrassed. My father told the _best_ stories. His voice just…took you to the place he was describing.

"That is, if you can remember any old man." Alice said and we all laughed as he gave her the stink eye.

"Did you have one in mind?" He asked, and she shook her head no. He smiled, and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I think I have the perfect one.

"Merpeople have always been a proud race, and we've been around for hundreds of years. The seas have always been ours, and since the beginning of our race, our existence has never been discovered by the humans. The seas we live in now today are peaceful, harmonious, and serene. But…it has not always been this way for our people. Our race has not always been at peace, and there was a time of war. Over five hundred years ago, when our species was still very young, there was a war between the merpeople and the Drinkers.

"The Drinkers were an evil race, named for the fact that they drank from the life forces around them. They possessed dark magic, and wished to conquer the Sea King and rule all the seven seas. They had dark red eyes, and pale skin.

"But the Sea King and his people had protection, protection like no other. There was another race, a race called The Shifters. The Shifters were magical beings who could take the form of humans, fish, and merpeople. The Shifters were charged with the Protection of our city Atlantis, and all merpeople and fish alike. When the threat against the Sea King arose, the Protectors gave their lives to keep the blue seas at peace. Merman and Shifters alike fought to keep our home safe. These Merman became the Royal Guard.

"The war lasted for years, and finally the last of the Drinkers were killed. Though there were casualties on all sides, hundreds of merman and Shifters lost their lives in the war. In fact, every last one of the shifters were murdered by the drinkers, and that's why their extinct. We know little about them, or what they looked like, all we know is from where they came. And all we have is the monument build in the middle of Atlantis in honor of the Shifters. They were proud, strong beings, with abilities beyond our wildest dreams."

"We were they from dad?" Rosalie asked.

"Well, the shifters were said to have come from a small cove in the Atlantic, what we call today Shipwreck Cove."

"But that place dark, and shark infested, and littered with sunken ships. How could anyone have lived there?" Alice said.

"I suppose it wasn't always that way Alice."

"There are no more Shifters in the sea? How can we be sure daddy? They could still be out there! We've got to find them!" Carlie said.

"Carls, if there were any out there, they would've been discovered by now." He kissed her head then got up.

"Goodnight girls. Sweet dreams."

He left they fell asleep, but I couldn't. I had so much going on in my mind? Shifters? How could I not have known about this? I took school, I learned about our history, but I was never taught this. That's what that statue was…I'd always wondered. It's just…it's not possible. It must be a legend. There's no way the Shifters could've actually existed.

Well one thing's for sure…if the Shifters really had existed at one point in time, there was bound to be at least some evidence of it. I knew the perfect place to start exploring. Shipwreck Cove.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Unexpected Discoveries**

The next morning we were all buzzing with excitement, waking up while the sun was still rising to pack for our trip. We were going to stay at a popular hidden lagoon with a beautiful coral reef in the Caribbean Sea for Carlie's birthday present, and we would be leaving as soon as we were done packing.

"I can't decide whether to bring my blue conch shell earrings, or my gold conch shell earrings." Alice said as she flew back and forth between her closet and her third suitcase she had lying open on her bed.

"Alice, it's only a week. It's not as if we're moving off the coast of Cuba!" Rosalie snapped. She was checking her reflection in her mirror.

"I know, but a girl has to have choices!" Alice replied before sticking her tongue out at Rose.

I figured this would be the perfect time, so I swam inconspicuously over to my closet hoping no one was watching. I slowly swam over to my suitcase with it behind my back, but to my surprise, Rosalie was watching. She snatched my bag from my hands and held it up.

"Aha! Planning on doing a little bit of _exploring_, were you?" She asked as she kept it out of my reach.

"Only a little!" I lunged for it but she was too quick.

"Aw, no fair, why didn't you tell me?" Carlie complained before swimming to her closet to grab her own bag.

"Just _when_ exactly were you planning on running off to explore?" Alice placed her hands on her hips expectantly.

"Today…later…and I would meet up with you guys at Tropic's Cove later tonight. Tomorrow morning at the latest." I said.

"A whole day? Wow!" Carlie screeched.

"Where were we going exploring Bella?" Carlie asked bouncing up and down in a very Alice-like fashion, and don't think that the 'we' slipped past me.

"_I'm _going to Shipwreck Cove. And it's going to be dangerous, more dangerous than any other place we've been. That's why I was going _alone_." Carlie made a face at me, but I ignored it.

"Why Shipwreck Cove?" Rosalie asked, but I could tell from her eyes she already knew.

"Because…" I sighed heavily, not knowing why it was so hard for me to say this. Probably because I felt a little ridiculous. But a part of me didn't…a part of me just knew that there was a great possibility that I was right. "Because I want to go see if I can find anything. I know it's stupid for me to think that something might actually be there after all this time, but…something is telling me that there is something in that place. A part of me believes that I _have_ to go there." I finished, and they were silent.

"I'm going." Rosalie said firmly.

I was shocked. Rosalie had never come with Carlie and me when we went exploring. Something told me she felt it might look childish and she felt she _had_ to be the mature one, the most adult of us all.

"Me too!" Alice exclaimed with a bright smile, clapping her hands in excitement.

Alice had never come either.

"You don't even have to ask!" Carlie screamed, happy that both of our sisters were going on an adventure with us.

I smiled and hugged Rosalie, and she giggled. Alice snatched my bag from her hands.

"Oh Bella, look at this old thing! It's falling apart! I'm surprised it can hold anything at all! We'll have to get you a new one. Oh, we should all get new bags! Let's go shopping for new bags!" Alice shouted.

"Alice, we don't—" But it was already too late. Alice was out of the door babbling to herself about colors and fabrics.

"Jasper! Quick! We need to make a little detour, I have to go shopping!" Alice yelled, already down the hallway.

* * *

"Now guys, remember, it doesn't have to be stylish or expensive. Just something that you can sling over your shoulder and easily carry—something that can hold what you find, and won't snag on anything." I said, before looking directly at Alice. "It's nothing more than a sack Alice." She pouted, and floated away.

After about thirty minutes, she had successfully chosen 4 new bags for us. Now she was floating around the darker colors, and Jasper swam over to her.

"Alice, why did you suddenly get the urge to purchase bags? We have a schedule to keep! We're supposed to be checking in to Tropic's Cove by at least sunset and—" He started but she cut him off, completely ignoring him. "Which one do you like better Jazz, the sapphire or the aquamarine? The aquamarine would bring out your eyes more, wouldn't it?"

Jasper just stared at her with an expression that said, 'Are you really asking me these types of questions?'

"Well I suppose you're right. And the sapphire would look better on Emmett. You always know what to say Jazz!" She chirped happily, before swimming off to pay for the bags.

Jasper followed closely behind her. "Ali, why do Emmett and I need bags? Why do you, Bells, Carlie and Rose need bags?" He asked and she got quiet.

"Because…you'll need a bag while we're exploring to hold what you find…" She said in a small voice.

"Exploring? Since when are we exploring?" He asked confused.

"Since we were going to take a one day side-trip to Shipwreck Cove." I said, floating up with everyone else to join in their conversation.

"Side-trip?" Jasper shouted.

"SHIPWRECK COVE?!?" Emmett yelled before Rosalie covered his mouth and we all shushed him, trying not to gain anymore attention towards us.

When he calmed down, Rose removed her hand. "Shipwreck Cove? Are you guys insane?" He asked.

"That's a death sentence. Have you ever heard of anyone coming out of that place alive?" Jasper asked.

"No…" Carlie said thoughtfully.

"THAT'S BECAUSE THEY DON'T!" He half whispered, half yelled, and she made a face at him.

"If your father knew about this—" Emmett started.

"He would blow up and go insane, because he wouldn't understand. The fact that he forbids merpeople from going anywhere near sunken ships is beyond stupid. He just…he wouldn't understand Em." Rose said, and Emmett visibly softened when she used her nickname for him.

"I'll tell you what he'd say if he knew about this, he'd say he's going to fry himself up a couple of mermen who were on the Royal Guard with his trident for taking his only daughters to Shipwreck Cove, that's what he'd say." Jasper rumbled.

"Please Jasper! Look, we got you guys bags and everything! So you can keep what you find! Please?" Carlie pleaded with him with big, soft eyes and a quivering, pouting bottom lip.

"Yeah Jazz, it might be fun! Who knows, we could run into a couple of sharks!" Emmett joined in. Okay, so Emmett was officially on board.

We all looked at Jasper with hope dancing in our eyes, and then his eyes stayed on Alice's. He sighed heavily, and then spoke. "My bag has to be a little bit manlier than that, Alice." He grumbled, and we all hugged him as tight as we could.

* * *

"Whoa…" Rosalie said, looking all around the place. It was…a ship graveyard. That was the only way it could be described. There were at least twenty ships, maybe thirty, littering the place. And not just small ships—large, stately ships. They were everywhere. The place was creepy, and gave you an eerie feeling. But luckily, there were no sharks in sight. I looked to my left and saw Alice visibly shaking.

"Oh come on Alice, don't be scared." Jasper took her hand and led her forward with the rest of us.

"You're such a guppy!" Carlie laughed, and Alice stuck her tongue out at her.

"There's so many…" Emmett said. "Which one do we check out first?" Rosalie was excited, and I was glad she wasn't feeling regretful for coming.

Something caught my eye. It was a ship, by far the largest ship, sitting directly in the center of all the others. It wasn't that old, maybe it sunk a month or so ago, and it was huge. It had an air about it; it felt grander than any other ship I've ever explored. "That one." I said with confidence as we swam towards it, I felt drawn to it.

"Bella, wait for me!" Alice said swimming up to left. "You know I can't swim that fast." She complained, before punching my arm and I laughed at her.

We finally made it, and we all stopped to take it in. It was even bigger up close. "There it is." I said softly. "Isn't it fantastic?" Carlie added.

"Yeah, it's great." Alice griped, and Jasper kissed her cheek making her blush. "You're not getting cold fins now are you?" He asked, and she poked him back.

"Well I'm going in." Emmett said before swimming forward. "Me too." Rosalie said taking his hand. "Wait! Someone has to stay out and watch guard for any sharks." I said, and everyone looked at Alice. "I'll watch guard first, and Ali can stay with me." Jasper said squeezing Alice's hand, and she smiled at him. The rest of us swam inside.

It was beautiful, and I was slowly beginning to realize it really was the best ship I'd ever explored. I read the name of it.

**LE BEL ESME II**

"Le Bel Esme II…what do you think it means?" I asked Rosalie, and she swam over to read it with me. "I don't know…I thought you could read human Bella?" She asked.

"I can…but this…this is different." I shrugged and continued exploring, swimming deeper into the ship.

"Hey guys, look at this!" Emmett picked up something shiny, and it had three prongs to it. It reminded me of daddy's trident. "What do you think it is?" He asked in wonderment, looking at it carefully in his hands.

"I don't know, but you'll just have to wait till we can find out. It's really cool though Emmett." I said, before swimming off to look for more stuff.

"Yeah, I've got about three of that myself…back at the grotto." Carlie said before swimming to join me.

"The grotto? You guys have a grotto?" Emmett asked. "Duh, where else would we keep everything they find? It's hidden, and nobody knows about it but us. I _guess_ we can let you in on our secret now…" Rosalie said with a smile, before swimming off so Emmett would chase her.

"Would you look at that…" Carlie said in a soft voice, observing some small round thing with a diamond stone sticking out of it. I swam over to look at it with her. "It's beautiful…" She said before placing it in her bag.

I swam away from the group into a larger room, it had to have been someone's quarters. And judging by the size, it must've been someone important. The captain, maybe. But there was something in here, something I'd never seen before in all my life. It was huge, so huge it took up and entire corner of the room, and it was pitch black. It had to be wooden, with some shiny pieces to it. The pieces on the front were white, with a few black pieces here and there. And not too far from the big thing was a small wooden bench.

"Wow!" I swam over to it, awestruck, before sliding the little bench over in front of it. My fingers lightly ghosted over the white and back pieces, wondering what it is.  
"What did you find Bella?" Rosalie asked when they all swam in to see what I was excited about.

"Wow!" Carlie swam over to it to touch it, the black wood on top felt smooth and polished.

"I bet it's heavy…too heavy to carry." Emmett said trying to left it, but it wouldn't budge. I guess it was nailed to the floor.

"What do you think it was?" I asked softly, still ghostly my hands over the fragile pieces.

"I don't know…maybe it made fire?" Rosalie said, running her hands along its curvy edges. It was a very odd shaped thing.

Something in the corner of my eye glimmered, and I looked up to see what it was. And then I wondered why I hadn't seen it before, it was nailed to the top of the huge black thing, and it was gorgeous.

I got up to get a better look at it…it was a dancer made of pure crystal, holding a shiny crystal star, encased in glass. It was about the size of my bag, and I wanted badly to keep it. I touched the glass lightly, afraid that even the tiniest pressure would destroy it, but it wouldn't budge. I sat there trying to think of ways to move it till Rosalie's voice broke my concentration.

"Hey Bella, come look at this." Rosalie called, and I swam over to where she was on the far end of the large room.

They were staring at a painting of humans, 3 of them, in amazement. "Hey Jasper, Alice, come look at this!" I realized why it was so amazing, because they'd never seen humans before. I'd seen them in my books with pictures, though.

"What, what is it?" Jasper asked when he and Alice swam in. They looked at the portrait and became speechless. "Whoa…" Was all he managed to get out.

The portrait really was gorgeous. There was an older, handsome man with slick blonde hair, and blue eyes. He was dressed as if he was important, as were the other two. The woman was slender and shorter than the man, and had a heart-shaped face with very thin eyebrows. But her smile was warm and caring. Her hair was a pleasant caramel color, and it was pulled up into a very sophisticated style. She had green eyes. The third man was much younger, almost considered a boy, and had the same green eyes as the woman, but his were much deeper. His nose was straight, and his jaw line was very pronounced. He was very lean, built like Jasper, though he was only slightly thinner and possibly shorter. His hair was wild looking, but still extraordinary, and it was the most unique color I'd ever seen. Almost like a…bronze…like my tailfin. He was absolutely beautiful and just looking at his half-smirk made me speechless and my heart race.

"Who do you think they were?" Carlie asked.

"I don't know…but they must've been important…look at her jewels." Rosalie replied.

Alice scrunched her face up. "They don't look like barbarians to me…" She said.

"Or dangerous." Carlie added.

"Or like they're fish-eaters who'd snare me on their hook." Rosalie finished. I knew where they were coming from; those were our father's exact words when someone even breathed the words 'surface' or 'sunken ship'.

"He's so…beautiful…" I said breathlessly causing Rosalie to look at me, before everything went dark.

For the slightest second, the room went dark as if something large was passing by our only light source. It felt like the world had stopped, and everyone stopped breathing.

"Everyone stay calm…" Jasper whispered, but Alice was already starting to freak out.

Before he could give more orders, the large shark had slammed into the side of the ship, jolting everything inside of it violently. He kept ramming till finally the wood had given way, and he darted into the room we were hiding in. He dove for us but we swam out of the way just in time, sending him straight into the big black thing. He totally destroyed it, all that was left was shards and remnants. But he had freed my crystal dancer. My eyes dance as I watched it sink slowly to the floor, and I started to swim for it.

"Bella, no!" Emmett's large arm wrapped around my waist pulling me away from it, and we swam out of the ship. The shark shook of the impact of its crashed, and haphazardly swam towards us. We swam out, and it followed us onto the deck. Jasper hid Rosalie, Carlie, Alice, and I while him and Emmett went to take care of the shark. We watched in horror as Emmett played as the distraction for the shark and Jasper tried to figure out a way to kill it. I knew what was going to happen though, because the shark had to know where we were hiding. I knew it could smell us. It would kill Jasper and Emmett, and then come kill us afterwards. This was all just one big horrible mistake, and it was my fault. Everyone would die because of me.

Then I saw Jasper light up with an idea right as the shark lunged for Emmett's tailfin, missing it only by inches. I heard Rosalie whimper, and squeezed her hand in reassurance.

"Emmett, the anchor!" Jasper said before swimming in front of the shark to gain it's attention.

"Reading you loud and clear bro!" Emmett replied as Jasper swam below the ship, getting the shark to follow. Emmett swam over to the anchor and waited for his signal. "Just tell me when to drop it!" He yelled to Jasper.

"Drop it…NOW!" Jasper said from somewhere we couldn't see, and Emmett dropped the heavy anchor. We heard a loud thud and quickly swam over to see if Jasper was alright. Jasper was in front of the dead shark, which had a big black anvil resting on top of its skull. "Worked like a charm!" Jasper cheered, before we swam down to him. He and Emmett celebrated happily, doing a body mash. "DON'T MESS WITH THE GUARD! UGH!" We all rolled our eyes at their displays of manliness, just ecstatic they were okay.

"Uh…guys…" I said in a dazed voice, and everyone turned to see what I was looking at. Before us were a group of coral reefs against a large rock wall, dancing with all kinds of colorful fish and life. It was breathtaking. In the very center of the reefs was a hole, small enough for merpeople and smaller fish to enter. "This is it, this must be the gateway." I said and they agreed, before swimming forward with me.

I swam in first, and found out that the reefs didn't just stop there. It was the entire entryway through the large wall, reaching for a few feet long. So many wonderful fish, so many colors, so many plants and life just living happily. Untouched by the dangerous world around them. It was amazing.

I finally got through and couldn't believe my eyes, there was an entire cove. It looked deserted, but looked like it was full of life when there was still life to inhabit it. I was joined seconds later by everyone else.

"So this is where they lived." Jasper said, and we looked at him. "My dad was in the guard, and he used to tell me stories about the Shifters when I was kid. He told me how his grandfather was one of the mermen who fought beside them and how they were the greatest beings to ever grace the sea." He explained.

"It's amazing." Emmett said, touching some of the carvings and writings on the walls. They were symbols and markings we couldn't understand, but they were still astounding.

"I'm sure there are _lots_ we can find here. Let's go!" Alice said excitedly will pulling Carlie off in one direction, and I was glad she was finally enjoying herself. Jasper followed behind them, and Rose and Emmett went off in another direction. I went off on my own, hoping I would find what it is I was looking for…whatever that may be.

After swimming through a series of many rooms, I was beginning to give up hope in this maze. I finally came to a dead end, a room with only one entry way. I sighed heavily, ready to give up, while something caught my eye in the corner. It was a flash of light, as if there was a way that light was shining down into it. I swam closer and saw it was a passageway into a small room; a grotto of sorts, and a small coral reef full of fish occupied it. It was a reef just as pretty as the ones outside, only there were fish I didn't recognize on this one. Fishes I'd never seen before. I took a second to take in the room, there was a small hole at the top, probably tens of feet high, and the sunlight shone through it giving the room a magical glow. It was enchanting. I swam closer to the reef to observe it better, and one particular fish caught my eye. It was a russet brown color, about the size of a clown fish, and had deep black eyes with brownish rims. I try to get a better look at it and swim closer, but by the time I blinked it was gone. It swam away, I must've frightened it or something. Or maybe it was never there, and I just imagined it.

Feeling like I was going insane, I turned back and was about to swim out of the little hidden room. But something inside me makes me stop right as I reach the small entrance. Something makes me freeze, and turn around. And what I saw before me made my heart stop completely, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

A small merbaby—a little boy, no more than a week old maybe—lying gently on the soft sand before the reef sleeping. It was like no other baby I'd seen before, its skin was russet brown and it had a mess of glossy jet black hair that fell into his eyes. He let out a small yawn, and snuggled deeper into the sand. The light shone down on his silky golden skin, making him glow slightly and he looked so beautiful. My eyes were watering with emotion because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. I slowly approached him and gently picked him up to cradle him in my arms to make sure he was real and I was not imagining him. He slowly opened his big black eyes that had tints of brown to them. They were absolutely stunning. He gave me a soft smile as his eyes stared deeply into mine, and I felt my heart move. Everything became centered on this little boy, and I knew I had to be the one to protect him. The smile he gave me let me know he felt the same way about me. I gently pushed his hair from his eyes and he giggled, it sounded musical to my ears.

Right as he did this, Carlie entered with a confused look on her face about the noise. Then when her eyes landed on what was in my arms, she gasped. He snuggled closer into me.

"Oh…my…" She can't even form coherent thoughts about what's happening. She could only come up with one question. "What's his name?" She asked, already formulating that there was no way that we wouldn't be keeping him. For the first time I noticed he wore something around his neck, some sort of pendant, and I touched it to read it.

It was in the same markings as Emmett found outside, but I flipped it over and found our language on it. I read it aloud.

_**JACOB EPHRAIM BLACK**_

Carlie gasped again. "You don't think he's a—" "A shifter?" I considered the likeliness of this, and it did make since. It sort of did all add up. He just…he just had to be the fish I thought I saw…then he shifted. It was the only logical explanation. Because I know I would've _saw_ the baby lying there the first time.

"I think he is…" I said softly, before pushing his hair back again. He was beginning to fall asleep. "Come on, we have to tell Rose and Ali." Carlie said and I followed her out, careful not to startle the baby. Baby Jacob.

We found them back where we started and wondered why they were alone. "Where are Emmett and Jasper?" Carlie asked. "They found something and it's huge, so their trying to figure out a…way…to—" Alice's sentence trailed off when she noticed what I was holding. "Is that a baby?" Rose asked softly with wide eyes. "His name is Jacob, and he's a shifter." I answered quietly.

"That's impossible. The shifters have been gone for—" Rose started. "Five hundred years!" Alice finished for her.

"He's a shifter. I know it." The clarity in my voice told them all that they needed to know. "How do we get him home?" Rosalie asked with her arms outstretched. I carefully passed him to her, so he wouldn't be jumbled.

"I mean, Jasper and Emmett have been pretty lenient with letting us come here, but they will _not_ let us keep a baby." I said.

"What's his name?" Rosalie asked, while bouncing him softly.

"His name is Jacob, but we'll call him Jake for short." Carlie answered. She moved over to make faces at him, and he giggled again. "_I'm going to be the best big sister ever Jake, I promise."_ She said softly to him, and he reached out to wrap his little fingers around her thumb. She smiled so brightly, it was so beautiful to see.

"Oh, I know!" Alice said, bouncing up and down again. What has she done this time?

"See, I had a feeling, and that feeling was right! Something told me we were going to need some baby stuff, so I grabbed it at the store when you guys weren't looking! Look!" She began to pull stuff out of her bag.

She pulled out a bottle full of baby formula, a shell pacifier, and a few odd things. "But most importantly…" She trailed off, before showing me the inside of her bag. I didn't believe it.

"My bag doubles as a baby sling! Hah!" She said elated.

"Emmett, stop swimming so fast! Not everyone is as strong as you!" We heard Jasper complain from off in the distance.

"Quick, put him in!" Rosalie gently him in and he cooed a little bit. "You have to be quiet Jake." Alice smiled warmly before touching his nose and making him smile back. She slung the bag over her shoulder so it would be more comfortable, and Emmett and Jasper came in carrying some sort of tablet.

"See Emmett? I told you. The fast fish in a hurry gets nowhere, but a steady snail pace wins the race." Jasper said, and Emmett rolled his eyes.

Jasper looked at Alice crazily. "Ali, why are you wearing your bag that way? Did you find something?" Alice pretended to be offended.

"Do I say anything about your fashion choices or style preferences Jazz? No! Quit trying to stifle my individuality!" She said before she huffed, and he looked a bit scared. "Sorry Alice, I didn't mean anything by it. Come on let's go." He said, before we left.

I couldn't help but turn behind me as we swam through the reefs to make sure Alice was cradling him properly while she swam through, and she was. We made it out, and Emmett and Jasper swam first to make sure the coast was clear.

We made it out of Shipwreck Cove alive, and with something better than anything we could've ever hoped to find while exploring.

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Aww…baby Jake! Must get at least ONE review for chapter three! I really hope you like it, it started as a dream after watching the Little Mermaid (one of my favorite childhood movies), and led to this! It's going to be really good, I promise. Review for chapter two! :D**

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